© Tie  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
130? 
Farm  Mechanics 
An  Evaporator  for  Potatoes 
Two  years  ago  when  there  was  a  big 
crop  of  potatoes  and  the  prices  went 
down  low,  there  was  great  demand  for  in¬ 
formation  about  methods  of  earing  for 
the  surplus  potatoes.  The  present  crop 
promises  to  be  rather  short,  and  indica¬ 
tions  now  are  that  the  demand  will  be 
sufficient  to  maintain  rather  high  prices. 
It  is  always  well  to  be  prepared  for  such 
matters,  however,  for  if  two  years  ago 
preparations  had  been  made  for  hand¬ 
ling  the  surplus,  farmers  could  have  ob¬ 
tained  considerably  more  for  their  crop. 
Of  course,  in  times  of  a  heavy  crop  con¬ 
siderable  starch  is  made  from  potatoes, 
and  the  smaller  ones  are  usually1  fed  to 
stock,  but  that  is  about  as  far  as  Amer¬ 
icans  have  gone  in  taking  care  of  tlio 
surplus.  In  Germany  the  potato  crop  is 
very  large,  and  especially  since  the  war 
German  chemists  have  been  hard  at  work 
devising  plans  for  utilizing  the  surplus. 
Large  quantities  of  starch  are  made,  and 
also  potato  flour.  Alcohol  is  made  freely 
from  the  potato,  and  also  we  understand 
a  rather  low  grade  of  sugar.  Efforts  are 
also  made  to  dry  the  potatoes  so  that  they 
may  he  kept  for  a  considerable  time  as 
livestock  feed.  It  is  said  that  there  are 
in  Germany  about  250  drying  plants  for 
potatoes.  They  handle  each  year  nearly 
s 00,000  tons  of  sliced  and  dried  tubers. 
The  cost  of  drying  runs  all  the  way  from 
about  $1  to  $1.95  per  ton,  depending  on 
flie  size  of  the  plants.  The  German 
scientists  have  figured  out  that  these 
dried  potatoes  can  he  used  to  save  about 
one-third  of  the  oats  usually  given  a 
horse,  and  that  they  have  great  value  in 
fattening  pigs. 
The  picture  shown  above  is  taken 
from  a  bulletin  issued  by  the  Canadian 
Commissioner  of  International  Agricul¬ 
ture  and  it  shows  one  of  the  drying 
plants  used  in  Germany.  It  is  simply  a 
round  tower  of  masonry  divided  into 
three  or  four  stories  or  rooms  by  perfor¬ 
ated  cast-iron  floors.  The  potatoes  or 
other  materials  which  are  to  he  dried 
pass  from  the  top  automatically  through 
these  floors.  Heated  air  is  drawn  in 
from  the  bottom  up  through  the  entire 
tower ;  and  when  tilled  with  moisture 
from  the  drying  potatoes  it  is  forced  out 
at  the  top.  The  machinery  consists  of  a 
simple  shaft  with  cups  or  dishes  for  car¬ 
rying  the  potatoes  to  the  top,  where  they 
are  dumped  down  upon  the  first  funnel 
shown  in  the  picture.  The  hot  air  is  ar¬ 
ranged  to  rise  up  through  both  the  floors 
and  these  funnels,  so  that  practically  all 
of  the  heat  is  utilized.  The  sliced  pota¬ 
toes  work  down  from  one  floor  to  another 
until  when  they  reach  the  ground  they 
are  well  dried  out.  Both  beets  and  arti¬ 
choke  are  also  dried  in  this  way,  as  well 
ns  brewers’  grains,  and  as  we  under¬ 
stand  to  some  extent  apple  pomace.  The 
potatoes  of  course  must  he  sliced  before 
they  are  dried.  The  object  of  the  drying 
is  to  put  the  potatoes  and  other  crops 
into  a  condition  where  they  will  occupy 
less  bulk  and  keep  for  an  indefinite  time. 
It  is  not  likely  that  driers  of  this  sort  will 
he  needed  in  America  this  year,  hut  the 
time  is  sure  to  come  in  the  future  with 
another  heavy  potato  crop,  when  some¬ 
thing  of  this  sort  will  he  needed. 
Planning  an  Icehouse 
We  are  planning  to  build  a  new  ice¬ 
house  this  Fall  and  believe  that  you 
could  suggest  a  good  plan  for  such  a 
building.  It  is  to  be  a  frame  building. 
Is  it  possible  and  practical  to  build  an 
icehouse  with  such  good  insulation  that 
no  packing  is  needed  around  the  ice  it¬ 
self?  Gan  it.  be  built  without  founda¬ 
tion.  using  ground  as  floor,  or  floor  level? 
Is  there  any  advantage  in  having  a  deep 
hole  or  cellar  in  icehouse?  K.  c.  J. 
►Stock br i d ge,  JVf ass. 
It  is  not  ventilation,  hut  insulation, 
that  preserves  ice;  keeping  warm  air 
away  from  it.  I  know  of  no  practicable 
method  of  doing  this  save  by  packing  the 
ice  in  sawdust,  or  similar  material,  and 
thus  surrounding  it  with  a  multitude  of 
small  air  spaces  through  which  heat  can 
penetrate  hut  slowly.  A  frame  building 
is  all  right,  and  it  may  he  cheaply  built 
of  rough  stuff.  No  foundation  is  needed, 
except  for  the  sill  of  the  building,  and  a 
cellar  is  wholly  unnecessary,  if  not  a  dis¬ 
advantage.  It  is  necessary  to  provide 
drainage  for  the  floor  so  that  water  from 
the  melting  ice  may  quickly  run  off.  A 
layer  of  field  stones  covered  with  sawdust 
may  answer  the  purpose.  There  should 
also  he  provision  for  a  free  circulation 
of  air  over  the  top  of  the  ice.  The  lar¬ 
ger  i lie  volume  of  ice  iu  any  house,  the 
better  it  will  keep,  Failures  sometimes 
result  from  attempting  to  preserve  only 
the  amount  actually  to  be  used  and  not 
having  hulk  enough  to  keep.  M.  n.  p. 
Keeping  Ice 
My  ice  melts  every  Summer  from  the 
last  of  July  to  the  middle  of  August. 
My  icehouse  is  10  feet  square  and  about 
10  feet  high.  It  is  n  studding  building 
sided  up  with  inch  lumber  and  weather- 
hoarded,  built,  on  dry  ground.  I  have 
two  holes  cut  in  the  gable  ends  to  permit 
the  air  to  circulate  through.  I  have 
about  12  or  IS  inches  of  stone  broken 
up  iu  the  bottom,  about  IS  inches  of  saw¬ 
dust  on  floor  and  about  two  feet  of  saw¬ 
dust.  packed  around  the  sides  when  I 
pack  my  ice.  Until  last  Winter  I  hewed 
the  high  places  down  and  made  it  per¬ 
fectly  level,  and  filled  the  cracks  with 
the  fine  ice  I  hewed  off.  Last  Winter  I 
filled  all  the  cracks  with  sawdust  and  it 
was  the  same  as  always.  Gan  you  give 
me  some  light  on  packing  ice?  E.  N.  s. 
Oakland,  Md. 
I  judge  that  your  trouble  in  keeping 
ice  comes  from  the  small  bulk  that  your 
icehouse  holds.  I  have  found  it  impos¬ 
sible  to  keep  ice,  myself,  under  much  the 
same  conditions.  Good  drainage  at  the 
bottom  to  immediately  carry  off  all  water 
from  the  melting  ice;  a  free  circulation  of 
air  over  the  ice  and  ample  insulation  by 
means  of  sawdust  or  other  suitable  ma¬ 
terial  are  the  essential  conditions  for 
keeping  ice,  and  you  seem  to  have  com¬ 
plied  with  all  of  these.  In  addition, 
however,  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  con¬ 
siderable  bulk  of  ice  together  if  it  is  to 
last  through  the  Summer  and  a  building 
10  feet  square  will  permit  the  storage  of 
only  a  small  quantity.  at.  b.  i>. 
Concrete  Protection  for  Water  Pipe 
I  have  a  water  pipe  which  is  subject 
to  corrosion  by  the  drainage  from  a  ma¬ 
nure  pile,  and  it  rots  out  every  year  or 
two  and  has  to  lie  replaced.  1  .edges  make 
it  necessary  to  run  the  pipe  close  to  the 
manure  in  my  barn  cellar,  or  1  would 
place  it  elsewhere.  Is  there  any  prac¬ 
tical  way  of  waterproofing  Portland  ce¬ 
ment  so  the  mass  when  set.  will  prevent 
corrosion  of  my  pipe  if  1  enclose  it  m 
cement?  Or,  is  there  any  other  practical 
method  to  waterproof  this  pipe  in  this 
place?  j.  c.  f. 
Billerica,  Mass. 
Concrete  may  be  made  practically 
waterproof,  and  if  this  pipe  were  en¬ 
closed  in  a  rich  mixture  of  concrete,  of 
sloppy  consistency  when  put  in  place,  the 
life  of  the  pipe  would  doubtless  he  much 
prolonged.  You  do  not  say  whether  or 
not  this  pipe  has  to  withstand  any  con¬ 
siderable  water  pressure ;  if  not,  it  may 
he  practicable  to  use  glazed  tile,  with 
tight  joints,  through  the  section  subject 
to  undue  corrosion.  Cast-iron  pipe  of 
small  diameter  might  also  be  used,  though 
more  expensive.  Lead  pipe  might  be  used 
to  replace  the  iron  pipe,  though  this  is 
also  quite  expensive  now.  M.  n.  n. 
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